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Stephanie Melson, 31, was killed when the driver of a pickup truck slammed into her driver's side door around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"She had nothing to do with anything. She's going down the street and gets hit, and gone," said neighbor Phillip Pryor.

When Pryor drove up to the scene at 39th and Kentucky street, his first thought was, "that somebody had gotten killed. Normally when they tape something off like this, something has happened bad."

His instincts were correct, but Louisville Metro Police said the story began a few blocks away, where officers were working a narcotics investigation.

They said the man driving a white Chevrolet Silverado was involved in that investigation, but fled the scene.

As he drove east on Kentucky, he blew through a stop sign at 39th Street and blindsided a red Pontiac that Melson was driving. The impact sent her car into the front yard of a home several doors down.

An LMPD officer who arrived seconds later tried to pin the fleeing driver's truck in place.

The driver of that truck suffered only minor injuries.

"You're going to get caught. Eventually you're going to get caught, one way or the other, and it's senseless to take somebody else down with you when you do," said Pryor.

Pryor said the suspect should be put in jail.

As for the victim's family, Pryor said, "All I can do is pray for them, just offer prayer because whether they know now or not, when they do find out, it's going to be tragic."

WLKY spoke briefly with one of her relatives Tuesday evening. He was incredibly upset and angry, claiming that several police cars were pursuing the driver of the Silverado, and that the chase should have been called off.

He said that could have saved his loved one's life.

Police said the driver, who has not yet been identified, will at least face a charge of fleeing or evading police.

However, police would not say whether any officers were chasing him at the time of the crash.